Greenleaf Fisk
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Margaret Jane Manlove
Mary Piper Hawkins
Greenleaf Fisk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member House of Representatives Republic of Texas | |
| In office 1838–1839 | |
| Member Texas Rangers | |
| In office 1836–1846 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 19, 1807 Albany, New York, US |
| Died | January 26, 1888 (aged 80) Brownwood, Texas, US |
| Resting place | Greenleaf Cemetery, Brownwood |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Manlove Margaret Jane Manlove Mary Piper Hawkins |
| Children | 7 with Mary Ann Manlove 8 with Mary Piper Hawkins |
| Alma mater | Lane's Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio Hanover College |
Greenleaf Fisk (1807–1888) was a pioneer, known as "the Father of Brownwood, Texas". When a land and water dispute necessitated a new site for Brown County's seat of Brownwood, Fisk donated the land for the new location. He was a military veteran of the Texas Revolution and was a member of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives. Fisk was a Chief Justice when he lived in Bastrop, Texas. When he relocated his family to Brown County, he became a substantial land owner and served the people in several positions of local government. In 1968, the home of Greenleaf Fisk was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.[1] February 25, 2004, the home was put on the National Register of Historic Places.
Greenleaf Fisk was born in Penfield (Monroe County), New York on May 19, 1807[2] to Nathan Fisk and Rebecca Canfield Fisk. At the age of 12, Fisk worked on a dairy farm in New Jersey.[3] Fisk originally intended to enter the Presbyterian ministry and enrolled in Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. He furthered his education at Hanover College in Indiana.[2]
Many have errorenously reported that Greenleaf Fisk was born in Albany, New York (225 miles from Penfield), and repeatedly cited these inaccurate reports.[citation needed]
Texas
In 1834, Fisk moved to Bastrop County in the community of Mina, which eventually became the city of Bastrop, where he met and married his first wife, Mary Ann Manlove, daughter of Col. Bartholomew "Bat" Manlove. He built a stagecoach inn on his property at 1005 Hill Street in Bastrop, as a wedding present for his bride. The house is now on the National Historic Register (#78003353). He later sold it and two more veterans of San Jacinto lived in the house—Jesse Halderman and Campbell Taylor.
Fisk enlisted in the company of Mina Volunteers, 49 Bastrop County men with Captain Jesse Billingsley, under Edward Burleson.[4] Fisk missed participation in the Battle of San Jacinto that happened on April 21, 1836, due to the news of the defeat and death of James Fannin at the Goliad massacre on March 27, 1836. Upon hearing of the massacre, Burleson ordered several of the Mina Volunteers, including Fisk, to "guard the baggage at Harrisburg." But later, when he heard the settlers were in trouble on the Runaway Scrape, he ordered Fisk, John Holland Jenkins, and several other men to return to Bastrop to help the settlers who were fleeing the Mexicans. Fisk's name is on the wall of the San Jacinto Monument as a participant and he received a land grant for his participation. The remaining Burleson troops pressed on to San Jacinto without Fisk.[5] In 1838, Fisk served one year as a legislator for the Third Congress Republic of Texas, became district court clerk in Bastrop, and in 1841 was named chief justice (now called county judge) for Bastrop County. Fisk was also elected mayor of Bastrop from 1839-1840.
Other offices and areas of service for Fisk were: first county judge of Williamson and Brown Counties, chief surveyor of the Republic of Texas, district clerk and county surveyor for Bastrop and Brown Counties, Indian negotiator for the Comancheria, Mina Volunteer, Texas Ranger, and Mexican War veteran.